Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
by whatthenesmith
Summary: When Victoria asks to celebrate Christmas, the Doctor takes her and Jamie to a holiday leisure planet. The TARDIS team then has a merry little Christmas together.


Jamie sat on the little stool that he'd brought into the control room of the TARDIS, sewing up the tear he'd received in one of his kilts. Why he was out here in the control room, rather than in his own bedroom or one of the multiple common areas within the TARDIS, was a little beyond him. The Doctor had been complaining about how no one seemed to be interested in the traveling anymore, which was a blatant lie, but Jamie had figured that maybe the Doctor was growing a little lonely. They hadn't had an adventure in what Jamie had guessed was two weeks and that certainly was unusual for them. Typically, they hopped from one terrifying danger to the next. Always out of the frying pan and into the fire, or something like that. Downtime was a welcomed, but odd, occurrence. Currently, the Doctor was fiddling around with some of the multiple buttons on the console that dominated the middle of the control room. What he was trying to accomplish wasn't really a concern of Jamie's. The TARDIS wasn't broken, at least not to Jamie's knowledge, and the Doctor didn't seem concerned by anything.

"Doctor?" Victoria's voice caused Jamie to glance up from his own work. The 19th century young lady came dressed in puffy pants, what seemed to be sandals, and a simple button up shirt. She looked quite beautiful but Jamie had to admit that he missed seeing Victoria in her dresses. She'd become more comfortable with the idea of wearing pants, although she still had her preference for knee length dresses. Jamie still needed to get around to asking Victoria if she'd let him try on one of her floor length dresses, just because he was curious to see what it was like, trying to walk around in those things. Victoria had also caught the attention of the Doctor, who glanced up from the console.

"Ah, yes, Victoria, what seems to be the matter?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor, well, are we going to be celebrating Christmas?" Victoria asked, very matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that's a good question, isn't it," Jamie said, glancing at the Doctor, waiting for a response. The Doctor scratched his head for a moment.

"Well, I do suppose that if we wanted to have a Christmas, we certainly could," the Doctor replied, "But why do you ask, Victoria?"

"Well, it's almost Christmas, Doctor. And I don't want to miss out on celebrating," Victoria replied.

"Ah, how do you know it's almost Christmas?" Jamie asked, truly baffled as to how anyone could keep track of dates and times while traveling with the Doctor. He certainly couldn't but that didn't really bother him.

"I have a calendar in my room," Victoria informed him, a very small, pleased smile on her face. "I tick off the days as they pass, thus I know it's December twenty-fourth." Victoria seemed very proud of herself and, if he were honest, Jamie was proud of her, too. He'd certainly never thought of trying to keep track of the days.

"Well then," the Doctor clapped his hands together, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "We'll have to go somewhere with snow. And Christmas trees. And we'll have to exchange gifts."

Jamie felt himself tense up. Gifts? It was too short of a notice for Jamie. He hadn't know about this, didn't know he'd have to be giving both the Doctor and Victoria a Christmas present. Did they already have presents? Had he missed something the past few days? Why hadn't anyone told him they'd be doing this? But then a rational voice in his head told him to calm down. He could think of something to give to his two closest friends, even if they already had their presents sorted out. Things would work out for Jamie. Somehow.

"Well that's fine for me," Victoria replied, "I've been keeping my eyes open for a few trinkets to give to both of you. But do you have gifts for us, Doctor?"

Jamie held back a laugh at the look Victoria shot the Doctor. She'd become quite comfortable with talking to the two of them, in her own little prim and proper sort of way, but she could hold her own in an argument. The Doctor didn't seem to notice the look Victoria gave him, which seemed to make it even funnier. Instead, he was already bustling around the console, seemingly preparing for a takeoff.

"Well, no, obviously. I wasn't aware we were going to have a Christmas," the Doctor replied, good-naturedly. That made Jamie feel a little better, even though he wasn't truly worried anymore about not having presents for the Doctor and Victoria. At least now he knew for a fact he wasn't the only one here without presents to give away.

"Do ya even celebrate Christmas, Doctor?" Jamie asked, suddenly aware that, well, that the Doctor was an alien. He always forgot that. Maybe it was because the Doctor looked human, or perhaps it was because he acted as if he were. But that couldn't be it. The Doctor was too kind to everyone to be a human.

"No, though we had other holidays to celebrate," the Doctor replied, "But I have celebrated Christmas before, with friends from another lifetime."

"Did you ever celebrate with Ben and Polly?" Jamie asked. The Doctor paused, his eyes staring blankly at the console.

"No, we never had the chance," the Doctor replied before whirling around and flashing Jamie a huge grin. "But we'll have a splendid time. I know exactly where we have to go!"

Then he turned back around to the console, pulled a lever, and the TARDIS shuddered, the typical (and, if Jamie were honest, slightly unnerving sometimes) wheezing sound filled the room.

"And where's that?" Victoria asked, padding over to the console and peering at it as if there would be some way to discern where the Doctor was taking them. But the Doctor didn't reply right away. He beamed proudly at the console.

"Oh, it's a surprise, Victoria," he finally said. "I couldn't possibly ruin it. Then it wouldn't be a surprise."

Jamie spotted that devilish glint in the older man's eyes that he sometimes got when he was really excited about something, or somewhere. And usually it was a sign that there would certainly be an adventure ahead, probably including someone almost dying. Or, at the very least, getting injured or in some sort of perilous danger. Jamie really hoped no one was going to die, not on Christmas. That would be unfortunate and probably not what Victoria wanted. And Jamie didn't want Victoria's Christmas to be ruined. So Jamie really hoped that the Doctor knew what he was doing and, more importantly, knew where he was going. In another moment, the control room shook and the wheezing sound began to fade away, until it was nothing.

"Ah, yes, right, here we are then!" the Doctor exclaimed, once again whirling away from the console to face Jamie and Victoria. "I'd advise the two of you to go grab a coat, a hat, some gloves, warm things." He waved his hands at them, as if he were shooing them away.

"Why?" Victoria and Jamie said almost at the same exact time. They shared a quick, humourous glance at one another.

"Because, it'll be cold out there," the Doctor still didn't seem ready to tell them where 'there' was exactly. "And snowy. So maybe put on some boots."

Jamie glanced down at the boots he was already wearing. They'd do, probably. They'd gotten him through worse. Then he looked at the shoes Victoria was wearing. They wouldn't make it through a light rain.

"Alright, come on, Victoria," Jamie grumbled, "Let's go see what we can find." He took Victoria's hand and together they began to head out of the console room.

"The closet down the hall will have something," the Doctor called after them, although Jamie swore he heard the Doctor mutter under his breath, "Hopefully." But never mind, they had a direction now and Jamie led Victoria down the hallway, where sure enough there was a closet door. He opened it and inside were an array of various coats, hats, scarves, and a smattering of gloves that were scattered on the floor of the closet.

"Where do you think he's taken us now, Jamie?" Victoria asked as she rifled through the coats, trying to find one to her liking.

"Not sure, just hope we don't run into any trouble, that's all," Jamie answered, picking out a sheepskin jacket with a fluffy wool lining that he was sure he'd worn before. He pulled this on and set about finding a hat.

"I'm certain that we will not," Victoria said as she paused upon seeing a light blue jacket. She took it off the hanger and put it on. It was made of wool, or at least that's what Jamie assumed, and it was long enough to reach Victoria's knees.

"That looks good on ya," Jamie said. Victoria peered down at herself and twirled.

"You think so?" Victoria asked, almost as if she wanted to make sure.

"Oh, aye, it's very pretty," Jamie nodded. He almost wished that he could wear that jacket instead. But he liked the warmth his sheepskin jacket provided him.

"Good," Victoria seemed very pleased, "Because I like it very much." She picked out a scarf that was a blue knit material and wrapped it around her neck.

"Victoria," Jamie started, pausing as he bent down to stuff a pair of gloves into one of the pockets his jacket contained.

"Yes, Jamie?" Victoria prompted, pulling on a hat that had a big, puffy white pom-pom on top of it. It looked very cute on Victoria and reminded Jamie that he had wanted to grab a hat. He looked around but didn't see a hat that he liked. Maybe he'd just go without. Did he really need a hat, anyways?

"Do ya really have a present for both me and the Doctor?" Jamie asked, after he made the decision to just go without a hat. Instead, he picked up a woolen scarf and wrapped it loosely around his neck. That would do.

"Of course," Victoria said, glancing down at her feet and wriggling them in their scandals. "I think I'll need different shoes."

"Aye," Jamie agreed, stepping back into the corridor. "I have a spare pair of boots that'll probably fit ya."

"Really?" Victoria frowned. Jamie looked down at Victoria's feet and than his own.

"Maybe, but it's worth a try. If they don't fit, we'll ask if the Doctor maybe has something for ya," Jamie said as he rounded the corner that the closet was adjacent to. He heard Victoria following behind him.

"Jamie, I wouldn't worry about not having gifts," Victoria said as the two of them walked into Jamie's room, naturally picking up the conversation that Jamie had started in the closet.

"Hm?" Jamie made a noncommittal sound as he went to his own closet. There were just a few shirts hung up, one of them being a shirt of Ben's that Ben had leant him so long ago it seemed. Jamie had never had a chance to give it back to him.

"I assume that was why you were inquiring as to whether or not I truly had gifts for you and the Doctor," Victoria explained.

"Oh, aye, yeah," Jamie spotted the boots he'd been talking about and he grabbed them, turning around and presenting them to Victoria. "And so, why shouldn't I worry? I haven't got anything to give."

Victoria took the boots from Jamie and sat down on the floor, carefully taking off the sandals and pulling on the boots.

"The Doctor doesn't have anything either, so wherever it is we are, I'm sure he must have landed somewhere with shops," Victoria pointed out, climbing to her feet and walking around, testing out the boots. "They're only just a little too big, but I suppose they will do."

"Oh, I forgot about that," Jamie said, before adding, "I'm glad they fit ya."

Victoria looked up at Jamie and grinned, before giving him a once over.

"Jamie, do you think you will be cold wearing your dress?" Victoria asked him, a very serious look on her face.

"Och, Victoria, now look, I told ya it's a kilt, alright," Jamie rolled his eyes, "I don't want to take it off and I've worn it in the cold before. I'll be just fine." He caught the sneaky little look she shot him for a brief second and, in that moment, he knew that Victoria was just trying to mess with him.

"Ya have a right wicked sense of humor," Jamie shook his head as he made his way back out into the hallway. "Come on then, we better go find out where the Doctor's taken us now." And with that, the two friends made their way back to the control room, where they found that the Doctor had gotten himself ready, too.

He had put on a big black coat that seemed to almost swallow him up and a little knit hat that covered up his head. There was a green scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and he wore the biggest smile on his face, which only seemed to grow bigger as soon as Jamie and Victoria returned to the control room.

"Are we all ready then?" the Doctor asked as he clapped his hands together.

"Aye, think so," Jamie nodded.

"Yes, I am," Victoria said.

"Good," the Doctor turned to the console for one moment, pressed a button, and the doors to the TARDIS swung open. There was a cold blast of air that made its way into the control room and Jamie shivered. Boy, the Doctor certainly wasn't kidding when he said it was cold out there. Wherever there happened to be.

"Out we go, then," the Doctor said and marched out of the TARDIS. Victoria took Jamie's hand and the two of them followed the Doctor out.

As soon as the trio had all exited the TARDIS, the blue box's doors shut tightly, as if it were a living creature, ready to go back to keeping the cold out. Looking around, Jamie felt the breath leave his body. Wow. It was like looking at a painting, or one of the pictures Jamie had seen once on one of his adventures with the Doctor. They had landed on a hill that overlooked what seemed to be a small town. There were a string of shops that lined the main road way that stopped in the middle of a circle. In this circle was a big house, but Jamie had the feeling that it was more of a visitor's center than a place where someone actually lived. Besides the shops and the big house, there were a smattering of log cabins and everywhere one looked there was sparkling white snow (minus the roads, Jamie noted). The street, the cabins, and the big house were all decorated in multicolored lights that Jamie found really fascinating. They were so small, so pretty, how did they even work? He made a mental note to ask the Doctor about them at some point.

"It's like a dream," Victoria gasped. She sounded just as shocked as Jamie was.

"Do you like it then?" the Doctor asked.

"It's very pretty, aye," Jamie said.

"Where are we?" Victoria wondered. Neither she nor Jamie could tear their eyes away from the sight below them.

"Varia, in the Icecury system. It's one of seven leisure planets found around this part of the galaxy. Varia is a holiday leisure planet," the Doctor explained, adding the last part as if he had to quickly clarify what he was saying.

"Holiday planet?" Jamie frowned, finally able to look away from the beauty of the valley below, even if it was only to shoot the Doctor a look of confusion.

"Yes, Jamie, a holiday planet. It has a section for Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, and that's only a handful of the Earth based holidays they have," the Doctor confirmed, "Of course, they also have holiday sections catering to non-Earth holidays. Like the Brenuosl race, big rock looking fellows, they have a holiday where they burn piles of wood for a week straight and chant some absurdly long word the whole time. Very interesting, actually."

"They have a word that takes a week to say?" Victoria didn't sound as if she believed the Doctor.

"Oh, yes, Victoria," the Doctor nodded eagerly, "Perhaps sometime after this, I will have to take you to that part of Varia. It's highly entertaining, and very beautiful to watch, if you find that sort of thing interesting at any rate."

"Oh," Victoria still didn't seem to believe the Doctor but it also didn't seem as if she were going to keep pursuing that line of inquiry. On his part, even though it was a little tough to imagine, Jamie could believe a word taking a week to say. He'd seen stranger things on their travels.

"Well, anywho, let's go down and check in," the Doctor rubbed his hands together as he began to make his way down the hill. Jamie immediately followed suit, thankful that the hill wasn't too steep as the snow did add a certain slippery aspect to walking down safely.

"Check in?" Victoria asked, hot on Jamie's heels.

"Yes, there's always a free cabin somewhere on a planet like this," the Doctor said over his shoulder. "We'll get a cabin, then go get a tree."

"But we haven't any decorations," Victoria protested.

"Don't worry, Victoria. The staff here provide all that is needed. The cabin will have decorations for a tree," the Doctor assured her. They were almost at the bottom of the hill, so close to the main street that lead to the house, when Jamie's feet were suddenly out from under him and he was falling onto his backside. The snow had given way, resulting in Jamie sliding down the rest of the hill. He heard laughter behind him as he stood up, brushing the snow off of him.

"Jamie, are you alright?" the Doctor said as he made it to the bottom of the hill.

"Aye, I am," Jamie grumbled, but he wasn't all that mad. Just a little irritated because now his legs were cold.

"You didn't get hurt?" Victoria asked, even though Jamie could clearly see she was trying hard not to keep laughing.

"I'm alright, Victoria," Jamie repeated, the irritation already subsiding, being replaced by a mild amusement at his own expense. "Now I'm just a wee bit cold."

"I'd imagine so," the Doctor said, reaching towards Jamie and brushing off some snow that had stuck to the back of Jamie's coat that he'd missed.

"Let's get going then," Jamie said as he started trudging forwards, wanting to get inside somewhere so his legs had a chance to warm up.

The trio made their way down the main street that was lined with street lamps. There were others milling around. Some looked like people, although Jamie knew that sometimes those who looked like people weren't. Like the Doctor. But there were also clearly some aliens. There were gelatinous eight feet blobs and bipedal fish. Jamie couldn't help but stare at one alien who looked as if they were composed of circular rings held together by branching nerves. It was fascinating but terrifying at the same time. Tinny music was playing on hidden speakers and Jamie felt an indescribable sense of joy blossom inside him. It was only a few minutes before the three of them had arrived at the house that was where they would check in. Inside the house, there were quite a lot of people (both alien and human) talking to one another and just hanging around, it seemed. As soon as Jamie, the Doctor, and Victoria entered the lobby, a very small dog looking man scampered up to them.

"Greetings and happy holiday," the dog-man's voice was high pitched and Jamie hoped he hadn't winced when they had first spoke.

"Hello," the Doctor stuck his hand out and shook the dog-man's paw. "I'm the Doctor. My friends and I would like a room for the night."

"Yes, yes, of course. A room is no trouble, no trouble. It's a merry Christmas for all!" the dog-man nodded knowingly. "I am Fanre. I will do anything in my power to help you have a merry Christmas."

"Well, thank you Fanre. That's very much appreciated," the Doctor said.

"Aye, thank you," Jamie piped up. Fanre gave a little yip, as if he were very pleased.

"Come then, this way. Let me check you in," Fanre turned around and lead the way over to a front desk.

The Doctor stood in front of the desk as Fanre made his way to the other side. It took him a moment to get up on the chair that was behind the desk, but he eventually managed to make it. Fanre checked them in and helped them to Cabin 7. The Doctor asked where the best place to find a Christmas tree was and Fanre directed them to follow him. Victoria seemed a little uncomfortable around Fanre so, as the trio once again found themselves following the little dog-man, Jamie took a hold of Victoria's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Fanre stopped in front of a very small tree farm. There were a multitude of pine trees, all different shapes and sizes.

"If you need help, there are attendants," Fanre informed them, "But I will leave you now. Do not hesitate to call me for any help."

"Thank you very much, Fanre," the Doctor beamed.

Victoria and Jamie both gave distracted goodbyes before Fanre disappeared to… well, probably back to the main house. It didn't matter anyways, because Victoria had suddenly grown very excited.

"Oh, this is so picturesque!" Victoria exclaimed, rushing forwards to the nearest tree in order to inspect it.

"I do agree," the Doctor said, following suit. Jamie didn't want to feel left out, so of course he went over to his two friends.

"So is this our tree, then?" Jamie asked.

"No, of course not, Jamie," Victoria instantly replied. "We have to look all around and find the perfect one." Victoria gestured to all the other trees that were surrounding them in order to make her point.

"Let's get cracking then," the Doctor was grinning like a dopey lunatic. It was infectious, because pretty soon Jamie was grinning like that too.

The Doctor and Jamie let Victoria lead them around the Christmas tree lot, although it seemed and felt more like a small forest. Victoria inspected each tree as if she were trusting the tree with her life and, therefore, had to make sure it was perfect. Jamie thought it was endearing and he hoped that they would find a tree that was just right for her. She deserved it.

"Oh, how about this one?" Victoria asked after about ten minutes of tree inspections. She went over to a tree that was a little on the smaller side, but it wasn't too small.

"It looks like a good tree," Jamie observed, running his hand over one of the branches for a reason unknown to him.

The Doctor bent down to look at the bottom of the tree.

"Yes, it does appear to be a good tree, Jamie," the Doctor agreed.

"What do you think, Victoria?" Jamie wondered.

"Oh, I think it's just adorable," Victoria answered.

"Then this is the tree?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, this is the tree," Victoria confirmed.

"This is the tree!" Jamie exclaimed, a burst of happiness jolting through him.

The Doctor flagged down one of the attendants that helped them cut the tree down. Victoria wanted to help and so she did, although Jamie felt a little bad because he stood to the side while the Doctor and Victoria helped the attendant cut down the Christmas tree. He just didn't want to get all sappy and the tree was almost oozing sap. So the tree was cut down and, when it came time to carrying the thing home, Jamie helped to carry it back to Cabin 7. Once there, the trio all helped to put it up.

Fanre had left a large box of multicolored lights and decorations on the couch in the living room of the cabin so when the tree was up, the Doctor started sorting out the decorations as Jamie put on the lights with the help of Victoria. The lights were on and then all three of them helped to put on the decorations. There were lots of felt ornaments, like mice and mermaids and dogs and cats. There were also colored baubles that Victoria hung up and the Doctor found some red garland that Jamie helped to wrap around the tree. After all was said and one, the tree looked warm and glowing. Jamie had never had a tree like this before and he was fascinated by how it looked.

"It's so beautiful!" Victoria gasped.

"It's a very lovely tree," the Doctor agreed.

"Aye, it's got a nice charm to it," Jamie added.

They took a few moments to just admire their handy work before the Doctor disappeared. When he returned to the living room, he was holding both Jamie's and Victoria's coats.

"Alright, the tree is up! So now I think it's time we go out and get gifts!" the Doctor said as he handed Jamie his coat and then Victoria took hers.

"I don't need to get you any gifts, mine are in the TARDIS," Victoria reminded the Doctor.

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten about that," the Doctor frowned slightly, as if he were thinking.

"I can go get my gifts for you two at the shops while you take Victoria back to the TARDIS to get her gifts," Jamie suggested.

"Then Jamie and I can come back here while you do your gift shopping, Doctor!" Victoria seemed to really enjoy Jamie's suggestion.

"Yes, that seems like the most convenient plan," the Doctor agreed.

And so that is what they did. As Victoria and the Doctor headed back to the TARDIS, Jamie went by himself down to the shops. He found a journal for the Doctor that supposedly could be loaded onto an electronic device when the journal had been filled, in order to delete the words the journal contained and start the journal anew. Jamie had to admit that he didn't exactly understand all of that mumbo-jumbo but he grasped the concept enough to understand that it was probably something the Doctor would like. For Victoria, he got he a necklace that looked pretty. Yeah, it wasn't anything special but he thought Victoria would like it and this was all sort of last minute anyways.

By the time he was finished and was, at this point, just browsing the windows of the shops along the road, the Doctor and Victoria had seemingly finished retrieving Victoria's gifts from the TARDIS. They found each other in front of a store and, after meeting up, Jamie and Victoria headed back to Cabin 7. Victoria insisted that, even though his gifts weren't wrapped, he put the bags his gifts were in under the tree, along with Victoria's own presents, which were wrapped. Jamie was impressed. With the Doctor still out, Jamie decided to make them all some hot chocolate. The kitchen in the cabin was stocked and Jamie was surprised by this, even though he wasn't entirely sure why. The Doctor did say that anything they needed would be provided.

He finished making the hot chocolate and brought it out, putting it on a coffee table that was in front of the couch. Victoria was already sat down, looking lovely at the lit up Christmas tree. Jamie handed her one of the mugs of hot cocoa and then took one for himself as he sat down next to Victoria. Ten or so minutes later, the Doctor came back from his shopping and was delighted to be informed that there was a mugful of hot chocolate waiting for him. They enjoyed their drinks for awhile until Victoria suggested they exchange their gifts. So, sitting in front of the tree that they had decorated, the three friends exchanged their gifts. It was a wholesome moment that Jamie was confident he would remember for the rest of his life. He felt warm and happy in this little cabin with his two closest friends. It was a merry little Christmas for them. A merry little Christmas, indeed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic is dedicated to .com for Classic Who Secret Santa 2017. Happy Holidays to them and to anyone reading this fic!


End file.
